Venue: SBS
Special occasion: Visit by devotees from Kota Kemuning and Kedah
Today’s talk is based on Sabbhi Sutta from the Devata Samyutta, which is a collection of discourses found in the Samyutta Nikaya. These discourses are based on the conversations between the Buddha and the devas who came down to the human realm to pay their respects to the Buddha and talk to him.
In the Sabbhi Sutta a group of devas came to Jetavana Monastery in Anathapindika’s Park where the Buddha was staying. Their presence lit up the whole of Jetavana. The devas usually paid visits to the Buddha and his disciples late at night when they were meditating. Bright lights always marked their presence.
The first deva spoke thus to the Buddha:
One should associate only with the good
With the good one should foster intimacy
Having learnt the true Dhamma of the good
One becomes better and not worse
The second deva repeated the first three lines of the same verse, but spoke the fourth line thus:
Wisdom is gained but not from another
The third deva spoke as the first and second devas but spoke the fourth line thus:
One does not sorrow in the midst of sorrow
This same verse was repeated by other devas, each changing the fourth line thus:
Fourth deva:
One shines amidst one’s relatives
Fifth deva:
Beings will go to a good destination
Sixth deva:
Beings abide comfortably
After the devas had spoken, they asked the Buddha which of the six views put forward was the best. The Buddha, with diplomacy, said that all were good in their own ways. Then he gave his own view, reciting the same verse but with another last line:
One should associate only with the good
With the good one should foster intimacy
Having learnt the true Dhamma of the good
One is freed from all suffering
This was the reason for the Buddha’s existence. His ultimate aim was to help us to be liberated from suffering.
I shall now relate some stories to illustrate these benefits of associating with the wise.
One becomes better and not worse
This story is told by a seasoned meditator. She personally knew a woman who was murdered in her own flat. A wake was held for the deceased in the same flat. On the first night, the own sister of the deceased felt an eerie presence in the bathroom. This seasoned meditator, looking at the photograph of the deceased in front of the coffin, saw the smiling face that was actually captured in the photo changed to an angry face. She knew that the deceased had become a ghost and had come back to haunt the apartment. She then stood in front of the photo and gave a short Dhamma talk to the ghost, telling her to accept her kamma. No matter how good one may be in this life, one has to repay one’s past kammic debt. Nothing could have prevented what had happened to her. She saw the face on the photo change to a calmer expression, but the ghost was still around. After the funeral, she left for Kota Tinggi to attend a retreat, and still felt the presence of the ghost with her in the bus. While she was meditating, the half body of the dead woman appeared in front of her and thanked her for helping her to let go of the past. As a ghost, she was the victim of her own creation, caught in her own delusion. Thus, association with this friend had saved her from further agony in the spirit world.
Another story is about an incident in Myanmar. A woman who often quarrelled with another woman, died and haunted the toilet in the village. Whenever her enemy came into the toilet she would scare the life out of her. These apparitions caused her to fall sick. The village headman came to the toilet to give a Dhamma talk to the ghost telling her not to prolong her own suffering by haunting others, but to no avail. Finally they invited the abbot of the village monastery to intervene. He reasoned that she should forgive and go on to a better existence. Gradually, these apparitions lessened.
Wisdom is gained but not from another
While staying in a forest in NW Myanmar, I was hospitalised and was visited by a lawyer who was a meditator in the Mogok tradition. As a lawyer, he defended criminals to help them get off free, thus creating injustice to the other party. I told him that he was creating a lot of heavy kamma for himself, and can go to hell. As a result, he stopped being a lawyer and instead helped his father in his Ayurvedic herb business. He had thus changed his life for the better.
One does not sorrow in the midst of sorrow
In 1978, a yogi in MBMC had terminal cancer. She was meditating under its founder who spoke the Dhamma to her frequently and encouraged her to do dana and to meditate. She was always seen to be smiling. She did not take any painkillers but just noted her pain. When she died we went to do chanting in her house. None of the family members were crying, but all remained calm in the midst of sorrow. Some of the family members were also meditators.
One shines amidst one’s relatives
This is a story from the commentaries. A samanera by the name of Adhimutta who was a disciple of Sankicca Mahathera was asked to go home to his village to find out his correct age in order to be ordained a bhikkhu. He had to pass through a bandit-infested forest to go home. On his way he was caught by them. He talked Dhamma to them and they set him free after he promised not to tell anyone about them. After visiting his family, he crossed the forest again, not knowing that his family members were following behind. They were caught by the same bandits. When the bandits realised they were Adhimutta’s relatives and that he had not revealed the bandits’ presence to his relatives, they freed the relatives because Adhimutta had kept his word of honour. As a monk he was dedicated to the truth and shone in the midst of his relatives. The bandits were so impressed that they too ordained as monks.
Beings will go to a good destination
In the 1990s, when I was staying in a forest monastery in Myanmar, we had a staunch supporter with whom I had a strong kammic link, who treated me like a son. Later, when I moved to stay in the forest more than a hundred kilometres away, I did not see her again although she often invited me, through messengers, to her house for dana. I always declined, as I never liked the rigours of travelling cross-country in Myanmar and was quite contented staying in the forest by myself. One cold night, while I was doing walking meditation, I saw a brilliant flash of light. Some time later I learnt that the lady had died at around the time I saw the bright light. She had died of a heart attack in the early morning while paying homage to the Buddha. I concluded that she had been reborn as a deva and the flash of light was her last farewell to me before she left to enjoy herself in the heavenly realms.
Beings abide comfortably
There have been newspaper reports about studies done on meditators and Tibetan lamas who have learnt to balance the body and mind and thus live happily. Meditation is an ancient wisdom which can help one to relax physically and mentally.
One is freed from all suffering
There is an inspiring story of how in 1932 an evil man became an arahant in this our lifetime, as a disciple of Sunlun Sayadaw. He was U Mya Maung who ran a transport service of carts, delivering things for others. He was a cruel and possessive man, and had 7 wives. Once his oxen were pulling a cart with a very heavy load and fording a stream. They could not pull the cart up the bank when they reached the other side. He flogged them and finally burnt them alive. In March 1932, he became an arahant within 7 days. One and a half months later in the Sunlun Cave Monastery, yogis were meditating each in his own kuti on a dark moonless night when they heard gongs being sounded. A fire had broken out in one of the cave cells. They doused the fire and pulled out the occupant, the formerly cruel man who had become a U Manisara, the arahant. He had been bound and gagged by his enemies and set on fire. Unable to call for help, he had gone into jhana and then sent a telepathic message to Sunlun Sayadaw. He was thus pulled out of the fire unhurt. He died in the vassa of the same year. Attempts to kill him had been unsuccessful and he passed away peacefully instead.
There are many benefits of association with the wise. Today’s visit by you all spent here in a monk training centre dedicated to the training of monks has not been a waste of time. So continue to do more good and reap more benefits.